Ending a session is always bitter-sweet. It's been incredibly fun watching the chilluns learn all these new skills, and we're proud and excited for all of them whether they stick with sailing or not. But on the other hand, it's tough to say goodbye to the ones who aren't coming back.
But for those of you who ARE coming back". You've not seen anything yet. MUAHAHAHAHA! Seriously though" Session 2 is gonna be fun. We don't have any diabolical schemes.
Sloop/Sonars took advantage of Race Week by giving the kids first hand experience of both racing and heavy winds and Hank says they "seemed to really like it." As they cheered from the side-lines, most expressed a big interest in competing.
Intro to Junior Sailing Tuesday did Optis working on points of sail, modified triangle to work on close-hauled sail and sail-trim. A bit windy, but they could handle it well and a few kids even sailed on their own! Thursday they went out on the Sonars - for the final time. "They came in a little hesitant, a little tentative," says Liam, "and they left single-handing."
Opti I spent the beginning of the first day learning about the much promulgated and otherwise hullabaloo-ed "modified triangle course," and then got to see it in action when Liza brought them out to the Junior Race Week Opti Green Fleet line. On Wednesday they sailed all the way to Crocker Park, then got Ice Cream, and then sailed back. Thursday's Scavenger Hunt saw the kids traveling all the way to Boston Yacht Club. Liza says "this class has been a fabulous success."
Opti II spent their last week practicing controlled jibes for those heavy-wind days, and upwind sailing for those "trying to get somewhere" days. To end the session on a high note, they put both these skills to work by sailing all the way out of the harbor, flirting with the open ocean and, for those not returning next session, giving them a taste of what later years on the water can bring. Tori says "This session, we changed our name to 'Opti Awesome,' and our motto is 'Opti II is better than you.'"
Opti III ate a lot of bagels, drank some soda and juice and some decaffeinated coffee, and on Friday watched The Nightmare Before Christmas and drank Hot Cocoa (it was a bit, ah, tempestuous that day, you may remember). And" that's pretty much it. I think.
Oh wait, no: We had RACE WEEK. With our biggest group of participating kids ever, we rocked the regatta like it had never been rocked before. Despite dastardly conditions, almost every member of our Opti III class stuck it out for the long haul, and we're incredibly proud of all of them. Tucker says "I'm incredibly proud of all of them" seriously, make sure you mention that."
